Government launches two nights of spraying residents (and mosquitoes) with poison in Yolo County

A government aircraft flying low at about 300 feet sprayed for hours last night, Aug 6, 2014, and will be spraying again tonight, Aug 7, 2014, during a four hour window 8 PM to approximately midnight, covering about 22,000 acres. If you saw the plane, you would not see an apparatus for spraying connected to it. The spraying done in the dark will come from embedded 8 inch nozzles off of the wingtips of a piloted small blue and white two engine plane (Beechcraft perhaps) that will fly out of McClellan Air Force Base, a contaminated Superfund site. Sprayed, so they say, will be 0.75 oz/acre of TRUMPET ( http://iaspub.epa.gov/apex/pesticides/f?p=PPLS:102:::NO::P102_REG_NUM:5481-481 an insecticide to kill adult mosquitoes. Well, that would be about 1,030 lbs of liquid insecticide if one plane covered all 22,000 acres. That’s about 130 gallons. Trumpet is sold in 30 gallon drums. Of course, with one pilot flying out of a Superfund site closed to the public, this would be the perfect cover for another government experiment, wouldn’t it? I’ll be out of town. Have fun. Oh, did I mention that Trumpet was linked with leukemia and pancreatic cancer in lab tests? 1, 2

SAN FRANCISCO – Fifty-one years ago, Edward J. Nevin checked into a San Francisco hospital, complaining of chills, fever and general malaise. Three weeks later, the 75-year-old retired pipe fitter was dead, the victim of what doctors said was an infection of the bacterium Serratia marcescens.Decades later, Mr. Nevin’s family learned what they believe was the cause of the infection, linked at the time to the hospitalizations of 10 other patients. In Senate subcommittee hearings in 1977, the U.S. Army revealed that weeks before Mr. Nevin sickened and died, the Army had staged a mock biological attack on San Francisco, secretly spraying the city with Serratia and other agents thought to be harmless.The goal: to see what might happen in a real germ-warfare attack. The experiment, which involved blasting a bacterial fog over the entire 49-square-mile city from a Navy vessel offshore, was recorded with clinical nonchalance: “It was noted that a successful BW [biological warfare] attack on this area can be launched from the sea, and that effective dosages can be produced over relatively large areas,” the Army wrote in its 1951 classified report on the experiment.

July 1, 2014: SACRAMENTO – Officials moved to spray a wide swath of south Sacramento after a spike in West Nile Virus detection.

At 9:15 pm Monday, a lone aircraft took off from McClellan Air Park to begin spraying an organophosphate pesticide across thousands of acres from Broadway to the north to Meadowview Road on the south and from Interstate 5 on the west to Power Inn Road on the east.

To those wondering why this drought year has brought a spike in the detection of the virus in birds and mosquitos, the district points out that normally flowing water has turned stagnant this year.

“It’s the birds and the mosquitos and other insects congregating at these limited water sources that increases the risk of virus transmission between the birds and the mosquitos,” said Luz Maria Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District.

The spraying has rekindled debate over the safety of the pesticide application and even the need for it.

“The main concern I have is that for a very small risk from the West Nile Virus, a large number of people are being exposed to a poison,” said primary care physician Dr. Kelly Sutton. …

Residents living in parts of Citrus Heights, Fair Oaks and Orangevale are advised to stay indoors with their pets tonight from 8 p.m. to midnight as aerial spraying for the West Nile virus begins.

The same advisory is in effect for Thursday evening, the second of two consecutive nights of overhead spraying for mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus.

Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito & Vector Control District officials said spreading insecticides over about 19,000 acres of dense suburban housing is necessary because of “intense West Nile virus activity,” measured by the large number of mosquitoes and dead birds testing positive for the virus.

The area to be sprayed is marked by Highway 80 and Garfield Avenue on the west to Hazel Avenue on the east. The southern boundary of the targeted neighborhoods is Lincoln Avenue and the northern border is the Sacramento County line.

The virus has also spread to other areas of Sacramento and Yolo counties, especially to the city of Davis, district officials said. Aerial spraying also covered large portions of Sacramento’s southern neighborhoods two weeks ago.

Aircraft will drop an insecticide that’s registered with the U.S. EPA and the California Environmental Protection Agency. The bug spray, called Trumpet, is expected to disperse in the air by morning.

Elk Grove, Ca— The Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District announced today that aerial treatments for adult mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus are scheduled for two consecutive nights on Wednesday, August 6 and Thursday, August 7 from approximately 8:00 pm to midnight over the cities of Davis and Woodland and the surrounding agricultural areas in Yolo County. “We are moving forward with plans for aerial spraying” said Gary Goodman, District Manager. For the past few weeks the District has been monitoring these locations which became areas of concern due to the many mosquito samples and dead birds that tested positive for the disease. “Our surveillance results indicate very high infection rates among mosquitoes and the need to spray in order to protect area residents from the threat of West Nile virus” added Goodman.

Aerial spraying will take place over two areas. The Davis block is approximately 20,000 acres and the boundaries are from County Road 29 on the north, down to Levee Road along Putah Creek on the south and from County Road 98 on the west to County Road 105 on the east.

The Woodland block is about 12,000 acres from Churchill Downs Ave on the north, to County Road 25A on the south and from County Road 97 on the west to County Road 102 on the east. For exact spraying locations please refer to the attached map or visit www.FIGHTtheBITE.net.

McClellan AFB was closed as a result of BRAC 1995. After it officially closed on 13 July 2001, portions of McClellan and the surrounding area were converted into a business park.

The chemicals used in aircraft maintenance, such as solvents, caustic cleaners, fuel oils and lubricants have caused extensive contamination at McClellan, particularly of groundwater. In addition, there are small amounts of radioactive waste at the base. The contamination was the result of leaks of pipes and storage tanks, spills, landfills and fire training areas. At one time, it was one of the most heavily polluted bases in the nation. Cleanup started in the 1980s. As of 2005, it is still ongoing and expected to take at least another decade. McClellan is listed on the United States Environmental Protection Agency‘s National Priorities List as part of the Superfund created during the 1980s.[4][5]

McClellan’s air traffic control tower remains standing, but was deactivated following the closure of McClellan AFB. However, the airfield’s navigational aids such as the VOR/DME and ILS remain operational. McClellan Airfield now operates as an uncontrolled (non-towered) joint civil-military airfield with various mixed-use tenants as part of McClellan Park.[6] The remaining military activity consists of Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento, operating HC-130 Hercules aircraft, as well as an AAFES BX, a commissary and VA Outpatient Clinic[7]VA Hospital which are primarily utilized by Coast Guard personnel, military retirees and National Guard and Reserve personnel, and their immediate families/dependents in the Sacramento area. McClellan is also the home of the Aerospace Museum of California. Since 2002, the base has also been home to the Pacific Region Campus for the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps.

rumpet EC is an emulsifier-based, water-washable formulation of naled that offers powerful pest-management performance and easy post-application clean-up. When used as directed, Trumpet EC controls mosquitoes and flies quickly and effectively, with no environmental persistence. Naled is a “Restricted Use Insecticide” ideally suited for agriculture, commercial pest control and public health or pest abatement programs. There is no known resistance to Trumpet EC, which may only be used by federal, state, tribal, local government or vector control officials, or by appropriately authorized or certified personnel. Product comes in a returnable 30-gallon drum with Micromatic fittings for added handler safety.